Democrats
and Republicans in Congress are fuming over the revelation that
President George W. Bush secretly authorized domestic eavesdropping
without court approval. Senators Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) and Arlen
Specter (R-Penn.) said they intend to hold hearings on the matter.

For the
record, we owe Senator Feingold a debt of appreciation for how he
single-handedly (at first) stood up against a broadside assault against
our Bill of Rights in the form of the USA Patriot Act which was passed
by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and was (and
still is) intensely lobbied for by the White House. Feingold's stubborn
resistance to the Patriot Act was rewarded last week when senators from
both parties rallied in sufficient numbers to support his filibuster,
thus stopping the Patriot Act (for the moment) dead in its tracks.
Thank you, Senator Feingold!

In
commenting on President Bush's decision to unilaterally issue domestic
eavesdropping orders, Feingold said, "The president has, I think, made
up a law that we never passed." Senator Specter said, "They talk about
constitutional authority. There are limits as to what the president can
do."

Other
senators weighed in on the subject, as well. Senator John McCain
(R-Arizona) said, "President Bush needs to explain why he chose to
ignore the law that requires approval of a special court for domestic
wiretaps."

Senator
Harry Reid (D-Nevada) has also called for an investigation. He said,
"The president can't pass the buck on this one. He's commander in
chief. But commander in chief does not trump the Bill of Rights."

Senator
Carl Levin (D-Mich.) was even more direct. He said, "Where does he
[President Bush] find in the Constitution the authority to tap the
wires and the phones of American citizens without any court oversight?"

Feingold
added, "He [Bush] is the president, not a king."

While
it is true that many of the senators quoted in this column have
heretofore often been negligent in their adherence to the Constitution
(the McCain/Feingold Campaign Finance Reform bill being a prime
example), in this case, they are right on target! President Bush has no
authority to order domestic spying without court oversight. None.

It
appears painfully true that, in the name of "fighting terrorism," the
Bush administration is intent on dismantling America's Bill of Rights.
What is worse is there appears to be a sizeable segment of our country
that seems fine with it.

Several
readers have recently written me saying (paraphrase), "I would gladly
surrender my constitutional liberties contained in the Bill of Rights
in order for my government to keep me safe." The folly and
naïveté of such thinking is staggering!

Virtually
every dictator and despot of history assumed control over their
respective peoples by promising peace and security. No tyrant tells his
people, "I'm going to enslave you and subject you to acts of terror."
They all ascended to power with assurances of prosperity and protection.

The
American people, especially Christian conservatives, need to face
reality: it appears that the Bush administration has assumed king-like
powers, has trampled the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and has
broken the law! And unless the American people want to trash the
Constitution and turn our country over to some kind of monarchal or
oligarchic form of government, no leader, not even the President of the
United States is above the law!

Please
remember that President Bush took an oath to support, protect, and
defend the U.S. Constitution. The deliberate violation of that oath,
even if done with good intentions, must never be tolerated by the
American people.

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Therefore,
every American should insist that both the U.S. Senate and House of
Representative conduct bipartisan investigations into the conduct of
President Bush. Only Congress has the authority to hold the Executive
Branch of government accountable to the American people and to the
Constitution. After all, without the checks and balances of the
Constitution, without allegiance to the enumerated powers of the
Constitution, without fidelity to the Bill of Rights, America would
become no better than the terrorist nations our president says he is
trying to protect us from!

Chuck Baldwin is
Founder-Pastor of
Crossroads Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. In 1985 the church was
recognized by President Ronald Reagan for its unusual growth and
influence.

Dr. Baldwin is the host of a lively,
hard-hitting syndicated radio talk show on the Genesis Communications
Network called, "Chuck Baldwin Live" This is a daily, one hour long
call-in show in which Dr. Baldwin addresses current event topics from a
conservative Christian point of view. Pastor Baldwin writes weekly
articles on the internet http://www.ChuckBaldwinLive.com and
newspapers.

To learn more about his radio talk
show please visit his web site at: www.chuckbaldwinlive.com.
When responding, please include your name, city and state.

The
American people, especially Christian conservatives, need to face
reality: it appears that the Bush administration has assumed king-like
powers, has trampled the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and has
broken the law!